Herlings and Lucas Coenen top MXGP of The Netherlands

2024 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 16 – MXGP of The Netherlands – Arnhem

Just a week after the MXGP of Sweden, the FIM Motocross World Championship stars head back from Scandinavia to north-western Europe, as the MXGP of The Netherlands presented another tough challenge for round 16 at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden circuit on the outskirts of the city of Arnhem.

An extra attraction was the debut of the Ducati Factory MX Team, with their Desmo450 MX machine being ridden by none other than nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli, bringing curious fans into the paddock area to see what the iconic Italian brand’s first foray into Motocross actually looked like.

The MXGP class delivered exactly what the home crowd were looking for, a dominant double win for Jeffrey Herlings and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, the Dutchman had to dig deep into his seemingly bottomless barrel of strength and resolve to climb from outside the top ten in race one. Then a straight fight with his two main Championship rivals in race two had the packed venue spellbound as the atmosphere stayed tense until the very end of the racing.

The battle for the MX2 World Championship between the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team-mates continued to swing one way and then the other, with Lucas Coenen denying Kay de Wolf the home victory he so craved. The Dutch teenager suffered a pair of crashes that also cost him a small slice of his Championship lead in the process.

MXGP of The Netherlands Video Highlights

MXGP – Qualifying Race

The home fans were ecstatic to cheer success for a home rider in MXGP, if perhaps not the rider many expected, as Glenn Coldenhoff took a famous first victory for Fantic Factory Racing, defending a stunning holeshot with the passionate crowd at his shoulder over every jump and bump in the qualifier race.

Lucas Coenen fought to the front quickly, his team-mate and Championship leader Kay de Wolf cheered through to a stunning second place aftera first lap incident that involved many riders.

Home hero Jeffrey Herlings showed pace for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing early in the day with the fastest time in Free Practice, but reigning World Champion Jorge Prado grabbed the first gate pick for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing with the best lap in Time Practice, as Team HRC’s Tim Gajser took second from Herlings.

Prado looked to have claimed the holeshot into turn one, but as he ran wide on the exit it was Glenn Coldenhoff who came through in the lead to the cheers of the home crowd, especially a large group of “GC259” t-shirt wearers by the second corner. Prado held on to second, with Cairoli briefly third before the Italian was overtaken by last year’s winner, Kawasaki Racing Team leader Romain Febvre.

Coldenhoff made his best efforts to escape, as his countryman Herlings had to work his way through from a tenth-placed start, passing title rival Gajser around the first full lap, then gaining a position each lap at the expense of Calvin Vlaanderen for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team, then Febvre’s team-mate Jeremy Seewer, and finally Cairoli to get to fourth by lap five.

“The Bullet” did get to within striking distance of the front three, but would finish in that fourth position ahead of Gajser, who had his worst Qualifying result of the year so far in fifth.

Vlaanderen was to claim sixth with a pass on Cairoli on lap eleven, and with Mattia Guadagnini grabbing eighth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, that made it eight manufacturers in the top eight positions. Brent van Doninck took ninth for JM Honda Racing, with Seewer claiming the final point for tenth.

At the top of the order, Prado was stuck in a sandwich as he tried to attack Coldenhoff with Febvre all over his back wheel. Feeling better than he has since his French GP thumb injury, the man in green took advantage of a small mistake from the Spaniard on lap ten to take second.

Coldenhoff weathered the storm of pressure from the Frenchman but held on to win by just under a second, with Prado a similar distance behind Febvre.

MXGP – Top 15 Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One

Red plate holder Gajser was marginally faster than Herlings in morning warm-up, but it was the RAM Qualifying Race winner Glenn Coldenhoff who took the Fox Holeshot Award in race one with a carbon copy of his first corner move from Saturday.

Reigning Champ Prado immediately gave chase in second, while the Kevin Horgmo started among the factory men in third place. The Kawasaki pairing of Jeremy Seewer and Romain Febvre started fourth and fifth ahead of Gajser, but Herlings was outside the top ten after getting cut off into the first corner from his far inside gate position.

It was even worse for Calvin Vlaanderen, who fell in turn one and would take no further part in the event for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.

Before the end of the first full lap, Prado did what he couldn’t do on Saturday and passed Coldenhoff for the lead, aware that he had to make ground at the front to avoid a repeat of the events at Lommel.

Herlings had got to seventh ahead of Vlaanderen’s teammate Jago Geerts, enjoying his first full GP race in MXGP. Unable to make a move on Febvre stick, it wasn’t until lap five that “The Bullet” started to make progress, and at this point he was 18 seconds behind leader Prado, as Gajser had worked his way into third ahead of Horgmo and Seewer.

Those two succumbed to the growing speed of Herlings on lap five, but it still took until lap eleven for the record GP winner to advance past Febvre for fourth. In the meantime, Cairoli had not enjoyed a great start, and was to finish in fifteenth spot, still scoring six Championship points for Ducati to add to his four from Saturday.

Herlings caught Gajser for third on lap thirteen, making short work of the Championship leader, as Prado and Coldenhoff started to appear on his horizon. With the bellowing crowd urging him on, the #84 drew alongside the Fantic at the top of the circuit, and the two Dutch heroes nearly collided in mid-air in a heart-stopping moment for the home crowd.

Herlings then blasted around the outside of “The Hoff” to take second, and a lap later did the same thing to Prado as the crowd roared for their hero’s efforts. True to his Champion’s mindset, the Spaniard did not give up and pressured the Dutchman to the flag, causing nails to be chewed as the final margin was just over three seconds.

MXGP Race One Results – Top 20

MXGP Race Two

Race two saw a straight blast into the first corner from Coldenhoff to complete his perfect start trilogy for the weekend, and his fourth Fox Holeshot Award of the year.

This time though, the three title combatants were snapping at his rear wheel immediately, with Gajser second and Herlings railing around Prado in the second corner to take third. Behind them was Geerts and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini, as once more the two Kawasaki men were locked together, Seewer in front of Febvre just within the top ten.

On the first full lap, Herlings briefly veered off-track slightly, giving Prado his chance to move into third, and on the second lap the Spaniard closed on Gajser, the pair of them swapping places and nearly clashing in mid-air as they threw their machines sideways just millimetres apart over the Finish Line jump.

Their battle drew them to the real wheel of Coldenhoff, and in the Championship order of Gajser, Prado, and Herlings they all passed the Fantic to leave him in fourth position, and off the overall podium.

Febvre got past Seewer for fifth, and the men in green finished in that order ahead of Guadagnini. All eyes were at the front, however, as Gajser grimly hung on until lap seven, as under pressure from Herlings it was Prado who took the lead from the Slovenian.

“The Bullet” was not to be denied however, and on lap eight he managed to sweep past both of his rivals, outworking Prado through the waves as the entire venue shook with the fans getting behind their star man.

From there, it calmed down at the front as Herlings powered to a 9.4 second win ahead of Prado, although Gajser had several big moments before a crash over a jump he was having particular trouble with.

This left him within striking distance of Coldenhoff, desperate to get on his home GP podium which he just missed out on last year. Gajser knew he was going to lose points to his rivals as it was, and dug in to stop the rot and at least salvage a podium for the weekend.

Coldenhoff would have to settle for fourth overall ahead of Febvre, Seewer, and a consistent Andrea Bonacorsi, who was seventh overall for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.

Guadagnini ended the weekend in eighth ahead of Horgmo, and Standing Contruct Honda MXGP man Alberto Forato rounded out the top ten for his best result of an injury-affected season. Sadly, Cairoli was unable to finish the second race and pulled into the pits on lap six.

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP Overall

Herlings celebrated his 107th Grand Prix victory, his 15th on home sand, and closed to within 35 points of Gajser in the title chase claiming a perfect 50-points. Prado brought home 44-points, with his 2-2 result, and Gajser went 4-3 to minimise the damage to his championship lead.

Coldenhoff was tied on 38-points with Gajser in fourth, Febvre fifth on 32-points. Seewer (30), Bonacorsi (26), Guadagnini (24), Horgmo (24) and Forato rounded out the top-10.

The top three are now Gajser on 801, Prado on 792 and Herlings a bit more distant on 766-points. Vlaanderen is a much more distant fourth on 550-points, Seewer fifth on 547.

Jeffrey Herlings – P1

“I struggled with a painful back this week. It was something I had to deal with: I’m getting old. I finally got a good start, I think I was P3 and I followed Glenn (Coldenhoff) and Tim (Gajser) for a while. I just wanted to try to attack, you know and I made a mistake and Jorge came past me and I tried to follow them and you know, once they passed Glenn, I straight passed Glenn as well and then I managed to pass Tim and obviously got quite the lead. So I’m really pumped with a 1-1 at home. So it’s been a while since I’ve won a home GP, so I’m very happy with it. And I’m just, uh, I’m just looking forward to Switzerland next weekend.”

Jorge Prado – P2

“It was a really positive weekend for me. I demonstrated strong speed throughout, and the second moto was particularly engaging. I started around third or fourth and felt confident that I could push my way to the front. Jeffrey managed to pass me, and I had a tricky moment when a backmarker crashed right in front of me, which allowed Jeffrey to extend his lead. Despite that, I kept up the pressure and pushed hard until about three laps from the end. Although I couldn’t close the gap completely, I maintained a solid pace, which I’m really pleased with. I’m feeling great physically, and everything is looking promising for the championship. I’m now just nine points off the lead, and with some favourable tracks coming up, I’m excited and ready to take on Switzerland: let’s go!”

Tim Gajser – P3

“I mean I have to be happy you know, comparing to Lommel where I was struggling big time and now in the sand the team did great homework, like we trained we test we changed some things and I was feeling way more comfortable this weekend. The pace was good, we were really close. It’s a shame for that crash in the second race. I didn’t feel that I was pushing over myself but just a little slight mistake you know and the track was quite rough and sketchy and yeah I just lost the front and then I fell back and then Coldenhoff caught me and then we had to push really hard for the last three laps but anyway I’m happy to finish on the podium, lost a couple of points but we are still in the lead, so four rounds to go where I like the track that are coming up so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Romain Febvre – P5

“Today my starts were decent but not the best, and twice I was behind Jeremy and it took me time to pass him. That cost some energy, and when I eventually passed him the guys in front were nearly twenty seconds ahead so, even though my pace was good and I could reduce the gap, I had no chance to catch them. Twice fifth was an average result; it’s more difficult to pass here than on some other sandy tracks, especially during the first ten minutes when everyone is going fast. Last night and today I had some pain in my body, especially in the legs, after my crash in practice yesterday, but I’m happy not to be seriously injured as it was a pretty big one. This week I will do some training on hard-pack to prepare for the next GP in Switzerland.”

Jeremy Seewer – P6

“It was just a consistent day with solid starts, fighting for positions for ten minutes and then keeping my pace with no mistakes or crashes. Two-times sixth is nothing spectacular but I earnt good points for the championship and we got this tricky track out of the way. This gives me confidence for my home GP next weekend; the Swiss fans are really special and I hope I can use that energy to achieve something special for them. I will try to be up there but I don’t want to give myself any pressure; the podium would be great but the front-three are amazing at the moment. I just want to enjoy it myself and also give the fans something to enjoy.”

Andrea Bonacorsi – P7

“I feel really good about today. I didn’t have the best starts, but I worked my way through pretty well in both races. In the first race I was running seventh and trying to pass for sixth and then I crashed with two laps to go. But I caught back up to sixth at the finish although I ran out of time to make a pass. In the second one I took a little too long to find my flow and ended up ninth for seventh overall. The changes we’ve made with the team worked really well so I’m happy with the progress and looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P8

“I’m really happy about the weekend! Finally! It isn’t easy for me to ride on sand, but I think I rode really well, and I’m glad to bounce back from last weekend, which was pretty bad. I had a solid qualifying race—just tried to find my rhythm from the first lap and finished eighth. In the first moto on Sunday, the start wasn’t bad. I stayed around the top ten and made a few passes, but by the end, I was struggling physically. The track layout and conditions were demanding, so I unfortunately dropped my rhythm and finished 11th, which is still okay for me in the sand. The second moto was really good; I didn’t put myself in a great position in the first few corners, but after that, I pushed to stay in a good rhythm and kept pushing all the way to the end. I didn’t want to slow down or repeat the mistakes from the first moto. I finished seventh, which is really good for me in the sand and a great turnaround after last weekend in Sweden.”

Jago Geerts – P11

“I’m happy about my weekend. I had good starts in both races and finished inside the top 10 in the first one in ninth. Then I was 13th in Race Two, so for my first GP in a long time I can be happy. My speed is good for the first 10 to 15 minutes, but it’s difficult to maintain it after so much time off. But with time and more races we’ll get there and I’m really happy to be back at the races with the team.”

Antonio Cairoli – P18

“We bring home an excellent test for the bike. Before the GP we did three weeks of testing between Holland and Belgium but the conditions of today’s track were very far from those found in the various tests. Our goal was to test the Desmo450 MX in extreme conditions and I had very positive feelings. Yesterday, in the Qualifying Race, we got a very good seventh place, which is a fantastic result for such a young bike. On Sunday I didn’t get a good start in both heats, but in Race 2 I was in the top 10 and so I’m satisfied. After three years away from the GPs it was definitely not an easy race for me, especially on a difficult track like this.”

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Championship Points – Top 20

MX2 – Qualifying Race

Lucas Coenen and Kay de Wolf were just over a tenth of a second apart in Free Practice, and the Dutchman snatched the fastest time from his team-mate in the closing laps of Time Practice, as the mental battle between the pair reaches boiling point.

De Wolf was completely closed off down the start straight, however, by Liam Everts, who had been third fastest for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in both Practice sessions, although it was his team-mates Sacha Coenen and Andrea Adamo who charged through the first two corners in the leading positions.

Behind them, however, was a massive pile of riders who crashed as the groomed surface met the rest of the track, and both De Wolf and the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star Simon Laengenfelder were involved. De Wolf started charging through the pack immediately, the crowd urging him on to defend his Championship lead.

Meanwhile, Adamo ran wide out of the third corner and allowed the returning rookie Quentin Prugnieres and Lucas Coenen to slip past, with Everts also working his way up to fifth past the Italian around the first full lap of the track. Lucas made short work of passing the Frenchman to grab second place and set off after his twin brother Sacha.

De Wolf took until lap four to carve his way into the top ten, by which time Lucas had jumped alongside Sacha to take the lead and disappear into the distance.

By comparison his teammate was working incredibly hard, driven on further by the fans and the trackside announcer, and by lap six he had passed Prugnieres, the wildcard Cas Valk, and the Monster Energy Triumph Racing rider Camden McLellan to jump into sixth spot.

Everts got past Sacha Coenen for second on lap seven, with Adamo following him past their teammate two laps later, as Mikkel Haarup also passed the young Belgian to take fifth for Monster Energy Triumph Racing. Haarup didn’t enjoy the position for long, however, as De Wolf caught the group and was up to third by lap eleven.

Prugnieres, meanwhile, dropped down the order after two GPs away to finish in tenth behind Valk, with Sacha Coenen also fading to eighth behind a poor-starting Rick Elzinga, who claimed seventh for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.

Haarup and McLellan put the Triumph machines into fifth and sixth at the finish, with Adamo fourth. De Wolf never backed off his pace to close in and finally pass Everts for second on the very final lap. With Lucas Coenen already pacing himself, the Belgian still won his sixth RAM Qualifying Race of the year by over 21 seconds.

MX2 – Qualifying Race Results

MX2 Race One

De Wolf made a statement by being massively faster in morning warm-up and lined up next to his teammate on the grid. Suddenly it looked like Lucas dropped backwards, just making contact with the gate to slow him down from the launch.

Sacha Coenen once more grabbed the holeshot, for the fifteenth time this season, and it was actually a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1-2-3 at the front with Liam Everts and Andrea Adamo giving chase to their younger teammate.

That was until the fourth corner, when De Wolf got past Adamo through a difficult wave section. Everts was quickly into the lead, and before the end of the first lap, the red plate holder had also passed the holeshotting Coenen. The other Coenen, Lucas, had recovered well to cross the line in sixth position at the end of the first full lap.

As he challenged the Monster Energy Triumph Racing machine of Camden McLellan, so his teammate was closing in on Everts, and with his home crowd’s roar of approval, De Wolf took the lead from the Belgian and started to drop the hammer, although Lucas was working hard and passed McLellan and Adamo on consecutive laps, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap five as he had a clear track towards Everts.

De Wolf was looking untouchable out front, but Lucas kept on charging. Everts and Adamo kept their solid third and fourth positions as McLellan held off a challenge from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pilot Rick Elzinga to claim fifth place.

Elzinga in turn held back his teammate Karlis Reisulis, while the second Triumph of Mikkel Haarup came home a disappointed eighth. Sacha Coenen faded back to tenth behind the equally disappointed Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star Simon Laengenfelder, in what proved to be the worst weekend of the German’s season.

Lucas mercilessly closed in on De Wolf, if only to send his teammate a message about his speed, and as the Belgian chased across the line just under a second behind the home hero, his hand gesture made it clear that he would be after revenge in race two.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

Race two started well for De Wolf, the Dutchman got the better drop, although once more Sacha Coenen rocketed to the Fox Holeshot line first. He now cannot be caught for the overall award for the season, being nine ahead of Laengenfelder with only eight races still to come.

Adamo was again right with him, and Jack Chambers put his Bike-It Kawasaki into third, before the waves saw him overtaken by Haarup, McLellan, and De Wolf, and the Dane took advantage of a slight wobble for the reigning Champ along the next straight to claim second.

The series leader was quickly past Adamo as well, then carved inside the Triumph to leave just Sacha in front of him. Lucas Coenen was the fastest man on track, however, and passed both Haarup and Adamo on lap five to put himself into third.

Before De Wolf could catch Sacha out front, he collided with a lapped rider in a left-hander and hit the floor, re-mounting off-track while Lucas gratefully inherited second. A lap later he had passed his twin brother and set about stretching out a lead.

Liam Everts had fallen down to twelfth on the second lap and had to fight through his rivals to an eventual seventh, with wild-card Ivano van Erp behind him, while Haarup slipped to an eventual ninth ahead of a dejected Laengenfelder.

Adamo and McLellan got the better of Sacha Coenen, who finished a better sixth this time, as Elzinga put in a better performance to claim fifth at his home GP. De Wolf, however, crashed with two laps to go while trying to haul in Lucas Coenen, and with bent handlebars and worse on his machine, dropped backwards to fourth, powerless to prevent the charge of Adamo, who was ecstatic with second and therefore third overall, and third place finisher McLellan.

Lucas took the win by over 33 seconds and matched his teammate with his seventh career GP win and his second in succession.

McLellan claimed fourth overall ahead of Everts, Elzinga, Sacha Coenen seventh, Haarup, Laengenfelder, and rounding out the top ten overall was Gabriel SS24 KTM wild-card Cas Valk, which will boost his confidence for his EMX250 title assault in weeks to come.

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Overall

With Lucas Coenen and Kay de Wolf sharing the race wins in MX2, no one collected 50-points, Lucas coming out in front on 47-points, running a 2-1.

De Wolf won 43-points, going 1-4, and Andrea Adamo rounded out the top three on 40-points with a 4-2 result. Camden McLellan (5-3) and Liam Everts (3-6) completed the top five. Elzinga, Sacha Coenen, Haarup, Laegenfelder and Valk completed the top-10.

De Wolf holds a generous lead in the MX2 overall on 777-points, Lucas Coenen second on 733, with Laegenfelder a more distant third on 676-points. Liam Everts (636) and Andrea Adamo (545) round out the top-five.

The last round of the final triple-header of the year takes place next weekend on the grasslands of Frauenfeld for the MXGP of Switzerland. Both classes should see more enthralling World Motocross action.

Lucas Coenen – P1

“Not the easiest weekend, but a great result in the end. I got a good start in the qualifying race – I only really needed to pass three guys, and I did that to win! On Sunday, I really wanted to win – my motivation was strong for this. In the first race, I hit the gate at the start, but I tried my best and got back to P2, chasing Kay, so that was good. In the second moto, I really wanted to win. I needed to make a good start but didn’t. I managed to fight my way back to P3. Kay made a small mistake, so I took the opportunity to get past him. From there, I just tried to control the race and keep the flow going. It was a really good weekend, and we’re now focused on Switzerland; see you all there!”

Kay de Wolf – P2

 “I’m a little disappointed not to get this GP win in front of the fans, they have been absolutely awesome, and I’m so grateful for their support all weekend. The first moto was great – a perfect start to race day at my home GP – but the second moto was a bit trickier, let’s say. The crash was my fault, but I’m really glad we were able to bring the bike home and get the points. Now, I’m focused on Switzerland.”

Andrea Adamo – P3

 “I’m really happy about the weekend. We know about our pace and what we can do in the sand and we have to be realistic. I think I am closer but it’s really good to be on the podium after some tough GPs. I’m trying to bring my best [performance] every race, every weekend right now. The weekend didn’t start so well I had P12 in free practice, P16 in time practice so on RAM Quali race I was so far but I had a good start then put myself in a good position for today. Two really solid races, I was a little bit lucky because Kay had a crash and then had an issue so I could finish second but it would not have changed the podium order if I would finish like this so I was pretty happy!”

Liam Everts – P5

“I got a pretty good jump in the first moto and the race was OK: P3. In the second moto I was around 5th-6th and then that tip-over ended up costing me a lot. From there it was tough. I’m disappointed to miss out on the podium but we’ll try and move forward and go to the next one.”

Rick Elzinga – P6

“Today was a good day. My speed was good but bad starts in both races cost me. In the first one I used up a lot of energy to reach the top five but I kept on pushing. I moved into fifth on the last lap after dropping to sixth mid-race, but then I was held up by a lapped rider and got passed back so I ended up sixth. Race Two was similar. A bad start and then by the time I got into sixth the top five were too far ahead, although I closed in on Kay de Wolf at the end but he seemed to have a problem. So, sixth overall is ok and now it’s on to Switzerland.”

Sacha Coenen – P7

“I wasn’t feeling so good with my legs after my crash in Sweden. The position wasn’t what I wanted in the first moto but the speed was quite good and there were some positives. I had another holeshot in the second moto and led for some time but then almost had a big crash with a slower rider. It was pretty crazy. It was a struggle this weekend…but we’ll work on it and hope for better in Switzerland.”

Simon Längenfelder – P9

“It was a challenging weekend here in Arnhem. Saturday started with a crash during qualifying, and despite getting back up and trying to find my rhythm, I went down again. That really threw me off, and I struggled to settle into a flow after that. In Sunday’s first moto, I had a strong opening lap and was pushing hard, trying to stay aggressive, but I got passed by several riders. To make matters worse, my goggles broke, and I had to finish the race without them, which made things really difficult. Still, I managed to cross the line in ninth. The second race was slightly better at the start, as I found myself in around seventh position, but again, I got overtaken by too many riders early on. Just when I started finding my rhythm and overtaking again, another rider crashed right in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid him. I got back up and made up a few more places, but in the end, I could only manage tenth. I’m really looking forward to bouncing back in Switzerland!”

Ferruccio Zanchi – P12

“After yesterday I knew it would be a tough challenge to even get near the top 10, so to go 12-13 for 12th overall is about as good as I could have hoped for. In the second moto I had a good charge going and if I had another couple of laps, I’m sure I could have got 10th, but overall, I rode well and made a lot of passes. A big thanks to the team for all their help and now the aim is to be ready for Switzerland next weekend.”

Karlis Reisulis – P15

“I have mixed feelings about this weekend. In warm-up this morning, I felt really good on the bike and felt confident for the races. My start in Race One wasn’t too bad but I should have attacked more early in the race, but my speed was good and I came through for seventh. Then in Race Two, I clipped the start gate with my front wheel a little bit so my start wasn’t so good. I was pushing to make up time and then I crashed. I was fine but someone landed on my bike and it was unfortunately too damaged to finish the race. It’s frustrating but I’m ok and I’m looking forward to next weekend.”

Jack Chambers – P18

“We got off to a tough start today when I hit the gate as it fell in the first moto; I had a really good reaction-time and it didn’t work in my favour. I was coming back but a few laps in the suspension compressed on the face of a jump and it spat me out the front; I was pretty much a passenger. I got a really good start in race two and just tried to bring it home safe; this was probably one of the gnarliest tracks I’ve ever ridden but I’ve learnt a lot and keep looking forward. We go to Switzerland next week and that is one of my favourite tracks.”

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Championship Standings